Oath Of Devotion
Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Alright, I own nothing. All belongs to J.K. Rowling.
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A/N A review from Karl Skywalker gave me the idea for the dark lord of the phoenix to be Gellert Grindelwald, thanks. Also thanks to YoukoTaichou who gave me a name for my phoenix.
The rope handle dug into Albus hand as he pulled open the door to Gellert Grindelwald's war bunker. The door creaked loudly in protest to being open. A wave of his wand and blue fire shot out to light the inside. Why did the phoenix take the children? Was it the Gellert Grindelwald phoenix? Was there another dark phoenix he didn't know about? What more could he do? These questions and more flowed through the headmasters head as he searched the old bunker. Finding little he moved into the fresh night air. Fawkes sung above him to ease his growing worry. "I know old friend, we are running out of places to search."
With a turn he vanished to his final destination, Gellert Grindelwald last stand.
The old house had seen better day, part of its western roof looked to have collapsed inward. Albus moved up the long walkway wand waving. Seeing no wards he reached for the door handle giving a small prayer he twisted it and opened the door.
XX
Harry lay looking into the brightness about him. A soft luminous mist floated around him, it seemed almost warm as it caressed his skin unlike the cold wet mist during a early morning at Hogwarts. He sat up to get a better look at his surroundings. It appeared to be a vast room with a dome like ceiling. It resembled the Hogwart express train station, just whiter...cleaner.
He appeared to be in relatively good heath as he looked over his body, and naked. With sigh of relief that no one appeared to be around Harry rose. "I seemed to have lost my clothes." He spoke to himself as he looked about for something to wear. Finding nothing he turned to look for a point of reference seeing the waiting area in the distance he started to move.
Noises echoed of the dome as he moved threw the mist, the closer he got to the noise it gave way to a voice.
"What a horrid thing, how did you survive this long? You should of moved on!" the female voice reached his ears.
Then a chuckle rang out.
Harry stopped as the mist rolled away to reveal a very naked Ginny Weasley eyeing him. Harry snapped to a ridged stance before turning about to look away in embarrassment. Did she need to chuckle he thought as self doubt filling him.
"Ahh, you made it. Very well turn about we can't fix things with your eyes screwed shut now can we." Her voice sounded like she was exhausted. Harry felt his heart leap and his pulse quicken for some reason his cheeks felt flushed with fever. "Ginny, maybe we should find some clothes first." God her brothers are going to throttle me.
"Wizards." She spoke with irritation dripping off the word. "Fine. If you insist on clothing yourself, you only need to think of yourself clothed."
"I.." was all Harry could say. Finding nothing to dispute about her claim he turned his thoughts to clothing himself. He watched as brown robes of the poorest kind cover his body, one Professor McGonagall would not grade well.
His face burned red as he turned to face a naked Ginny.
"Ginny." His voice squeaked out. Her chuckle filled the air. "Don't, bloodly hell." He again found himself looking into the far distance.
Ginny's laughter filled the dome with a deep richness. "I am not your dear Ginny wizard. but, if clothing will hurry this along then I'll cloth this body." He turned and saw she had replaced he nakedness with a flowing elegant robe of deepest orange. "The great flame." she chuckled again "You will make life enjoyable."
For the first time a noise other then her caught his attention, near her feet squeezed under the wooden bench was a small maimed child. It was curled up in the fetus position moaning in pain. It's skin looked blistered, its teeth rotten. Harry's heart clenched and moved to give what little comfort he could to the poor child. "NO" she roared her arm forced him to stop. "That is why we are here, that thing was inside of you," her finger pointed at it accusingly "that horrid...putrid piece of soul needs to stay here."
"Touching it will invite it back into your soul." Her voice trembled with anger and maybe some fear. "So unless you intend to be a pack mule for another I strongly suggest we leave it."
"That was in me?" His voice felt weak, sounded weak.
"Yes. but, in its defense it saved your life. As well as that young lady." and mine she thought. "But, it's also been feeding off you like a leech for the last twelve years."
"Twelve years?" he slowly touched his scar.
"Yes it was in that scar, it used you to anchor itself to this plane. So I think that covers any debt we might of owed it for saving our lives" She said with a glare toward it.
"Does that mean it belonged to Voldermort, has he moved on?" Hope was in his voice
"Why ask me?" She snapped. "I don't know."
Harry and pseudo Ginny waited in the awkward silence that filled the area.
"So...do you know where we are?" Harry asked hoping she wouldn't snap.
"Yes." She said "We are in the between. A world made for those who are waiting for death."
"Death? I thought that" He pointed to the child and he felt bad for calling it that." saved my life."
"Yes, It did stop you from moving on all the way. I finished the bond we shared so I could help bring you back to the world of the living."
"I thought you hated the bond why did you allow it to complete?"
"TO SAVE YOU." she snapped again "Wizard you are dense." she growled. "Without me to guild you, you would be stuck in this realm."
"Thank you." he said after a moment of silence.
"Anything else you need cleared up? I would like to move back to world of the living." her voice had a snappy edge about it
"What are you?" Harry asked.
"That dear wizard, is a harder question to answer then you might think."
"You don't have to tell me we all have secrets?" he said
She looked at him with a gaze that seemed to pierce his very soul. Her eyes were enchanting, but right before he he could force himself to looked away she spoke "Before my experience at the hand of a dark lord, I always thought of myself as a noble thing or the embodiment of light. An instantaneous flash of light in an otherwise world of eternal darkness, I of course was a phoenix." her fingers spread across her chest. "My life was had been based on noble acts and selfless sacrifices. When I was impulsive, when I found an urge to look for adventure or to wander." Pseudo Ginny paused with a forlorn look. "During these trips, my pilgrimage into the world of mortals, I meant a young wizard who convinced me he would change the world. His heart spoke the truth of the matter, it sung with pure love for his people. I was called the impetuous child when I was a hatching." a small sad laugh escapade her. "Foolhardy maybe would of been more fitting name, for I trusted what I saw and how the song itself sung to me like a choir of children. I needed no more then to know that within the man the pervasive smell of righteousness drove me into intoxication."
Harry moved to closer and wrapped his arm awkwardly around his strange companion's shoulder.
Pseudo Ginny gave a little laugh as the tears still threaten to fall, then she continued, "I wasn't always this way you know." At the questioning look Harry gave her, she continued, " I was once a flighty thing, a true believer in the greater good of mankind, before I bound myself to a wizard."
"What happen to you, why did you change?" Harry asked
"Why indeed, because the wizard wasn't what I thought at first glance. His righteous belief was to enslave mankind to his bidding, a belief I found out about to late. Once bond the wizard's death is the only release for my kind. The wizard also used spells to further bind me, twist me."Ginny sighed and looked down as she reflect upon what she told him. "I am not what one would consider to be a phoenix anymore, I am darker." she looked at harry with fright in her gaze "Maybe even evil."
"You can't be evil." Harry stated with such absolution.
"No one could know that." she sad in a wise sad voice.
"Sure one can." He spoke with the resolve of a teenager. "You wanted to be free of me, but you chose to bond further with me to save my life, to guild me back. That is not what an evil person would do."
"I..I lied about the ritual. I told you to push everything you could into the girl to save her." Her voice was grave "I knew this would kill you."
Harry thought for a moment, but shock his head and smiled. "Yes, but in the end you did what was right." his smile grew wider as a small flicker of hope shone in her eyes.
"So what do I call you?" he asked
"As my master you could call me anything." she said and his brow twisted together.
"What would you want to be called?" he asked
"Umbra" she spoke in a uncertain voice, "Yes Umbra, it's Latin for shadow."
Harry smiled. "Well umbra should we get out of here?"
"It sounds good. Master" The last word seemed to almost hurt her to say.
"I am no ones master Umbra," His voice gave no room for argument "But I would love to friends. Equals." He held his hand out.
With a radiant smile she gripped his hand in a vice like hold. "I would love that...Harry."
"Before we go back, there is a most foul beast that locked its jaws onto your leg. It was brought along for the ride when I took you and your friend away from that hospital."
"What, something has bitten me?" asked shock filled his voice. "I'm no longer at St Mungo's?" he asked in confusion
"No your safe in my nest and it might be awake when we return." she spoke with a little amusement
With a deep sigh he said "My life has been weird since I was eleven I must be cursed. Well I guess we should return." Then he thought of something he wanted to know "So..What do you look like?" He watched as darkness surrounded him and her smile became once again sad. "Not beautiful like I once was, and you think your life is weird wait until people find out Gellert Grindelwald's phoenix chose to bond to you"
XX
Harry awoke looking into the eyes of death's very own cuddly hell hound, bad breath included. "Oh hell." Was all the wittiness he could think of to say. He looked about and saw Ginny a few feet away, she looked alive if a little muddy. All he needed to do was get to her and maybe Umbra could move them to a safer spot.
A screech, like nails across a chalkboard echo above him. He watched the large dog shift it's weight. Then the black beast lunged at him, its jaws dripping with saliva. His eyes locked shut waiting for the pain to fill him. When none came he opened them up to see the underbelly of the mangy mutt it shook with a deep growl.
A voice in the back of his mind spoke. It was very fluid almost musical, but with a note or two off key. "I think the puppy is tiring to protect you form me." harry could hear the laughter in Umbra's words. His's eyes shift to the rafters were he could make out the outline of a large bird.
He slowly moved to a sitting position, the large dog's left ears flipped toward him but gave no other indication he didn't want him to move. He slid back until his hand found Ginny. "Should I kill it? Dog meat is rather tough, but we could survive on it"
"No" He shouted out loud. "Don't kill it."
He watched as the dog shifted into a man with long black matted hair. "Harry." the man turned toward him with a wand in hand, his holly wand in hand. "Harry I know you don't know me." His voice crackled like it hadn't seen recent use. "I was your fathers friend we need to go, that is a foul creature."
Harry's eyes grew large as he looked into the face that covered every newspaper across the world, Sirius black.